#I definitely didn't go in expecting it to be how it is!

[hees-mine]

LOVE LOST - L. HEESEUNG

Pairing: Heeseung x fem reader!

Warnings: smut, angst, crying, protected sex, alcohol, toxic relationship dynamics.

WC: 3k+

-

You were at the club, the one you and your ex-heeseung used to frequent. Your back was turned while you talked to your friends with a smile on your face and definitely not a thought of your no-good ex.

But that changed when you heard his voice come from directly behind you. "Didn't expect to see you here." There it was, the voice you used to be so in love with, the voice that used to sing you lullabies before bed, the voice that guided you through countless orgasms.

It was unmistakably your ex-heeseung.

You pretended you didn't hear it and kept your back turned, that is, until he spoke again to attract your attention. Little did he know you heard it the first time and were intentionally not paying attention to him.

"Ignoring me now sweety? That's cold" you hear him chuckle behind you and the sound made goosebumps rise on your skin.

You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath to calm yourself as your friends tried to tell him to leave, but of course, his stubborn drunk ass wasn't budging.

"Let the lady speak for herself," he says, turning his head toward your friends, whose names he can't remember right now. They roll their eyes at him, but he couldn't care less. "As I was saying, I wasn't expecting to see you here tonight, princess."

"Can't say the same," you replied harshly. When you used to date, you both practically lived at parties and clubs, not because you wanted to be there but because he did. He'd always pursued you to come with him, always saying it was no fun without you.

"Ouch," he chuckles drunkenly. You can feel his warm breath fanning your neck, and your whole body shivers. "Anyways, I remember you couldn't stand parties," he talks to your back.

"Yet you always dragged me along," you replied, taking a sip of your drink as your friends giggled at your comeback.

"Come on, you loved it," he ignored your friends, leaning down next to your ear. "Especially when we'd dance the way you'd grind up against me, making me so fucking hard that I'd have to take you to my car and fuck you in the parking lot."

Your friends couldn't help but audibly gasp, and your cheeks heated up with embarrassment as they now knew what you and him always used to leave parties so early for. "Enough," you whispered.

"No, I don't think that's enough, princess. I need you to remember fully how you'd drag your nails down my chest and moan my name loudly while you bounced up and down on my dic-"

You finally turned around placing a hand on his chest. "Stop" he smiled and he only kept going.

"I can give you a refresher if you want." he smirked.

"Heeseung, seriously, stop it." You grit through your teeth, the air becoming more awkward because your friends are watching.

"You want me to stop?" He asked, liquor shining on his soft pink lips. "I will if you come to my car."

"You're crazy," you scoffed, turning away from him and ignoring his presence.

"Crazy for you~," he said in a sing-song tone before drifting back into the crowd somewhere you didn't see.

You took a deep breath, feeling relieved that he actually just left you alone and didn’t pester you like he used to.

Your friends didn't mention anything that was said, and you were grateful for that.

Going back to the conversation, you got immersed, having a few drinks in between. You never liked parties, but since heeseung took you, you became accustomed to them somewhat, allowing your friends to take you to a few, and you actually started to enjoy yourself.

Not even half an hour later, you receive a text from your ex, and you're cursing yourself for not blocking him, but sadly, that piece of trash still had a hold on you.

My ex 💔: come outside.

That's all it said, along with an attachment, a video with the flash on, the camera positioned in front of his dick as he stroked it slowly, precum shining on the pinkish tip as you heard his soft breath’s in the background. Luckily, your friends were having a conversation and didn't hear him.

You clenched your thighs tightly and shut your phone off, quickly turning it face down.

You were not about to fall into that trap.

Not again.

But heeseung had other plans as you talked to your friends.

My ex💔: Please, I'm so hard I don't know what to do without you.

He sent back-to-back text, making it harder for you to say no.

My ex💔: Only you know how to make me feel better.

Heeseung was struggling more than struggling. His chest felt tight, his breath heavy as he played with his length, trying to cum but he couldn't. He tossed his head back against his seat, pumping slower and faster, toying with his tip the way you used to, but nothing worked, and he grew frustrated, looking at the door to the club, hoping you'd come out soon.

My ex💔: Fuck y/n, I'm begging you, can't cum without you, please.

He sent the text along with another video with shaky hands, his heart pounding in his chest from arousal.

He tried everything, knowing how much you used to like when he'd send you risky videos or text while you were at work which usually resulted in you coming home early, but apparently, it wasn't working anymore cause you weren't answering even though it clearly said "seen."

You'd muted his texts, but you were too weak. Your hand itched to check your phone and see if he was still at it, and you weren't surprised to see that he was.

Two more messages and another attachment.

You titled your phone to the side to play the video. His dick was fully hard, helplessly twitching against his stomach, dripping precum.

You hated how your body still reacted when he begged you like that when he made it seem like you were the only thing he needed, yet the very next day, he'd neglect you, but stupidly, you kept going back for more.

And unfortunately tonight was no different as you grabbed your purse saying a quick bye to your friends before heading outside.

You knew they'd chastise you tomorrow, but right now, your body ached for your ex-boyfriend's dick.

Heeseung was about to call it quits, thinking you'd actually given up on him this time, but just then, he saw you coming out from the building, and he couldn't have been more excited.

You came around to the front door doing it how you always did, climbing inside and sitting on his lap. "You made it," he said with a cocky smile reclining his seat back.

"Shut up," you replied.

"Yes, mam," he giggled softly, hands on your thighs, pushing up your dress. "Missed this," he murmured, squeezing your thighs softly. "Missed you."

"I said s-shut up," you stuttered, feeling his touch once again. It's only been maybe two months since you'd last fucked him, but you'd be lying if you said you didn't miss it too.

"I remember you used to love my voice so much. Now, you don't want to hear me."

"You're pretty bad at listening, aren't you?" You say, placing your hands on his chest.

"That's nothing new for you. You made sure to tell me that every day the month we broke up," he recalled.

"Was it not true?" You said, resting flat against him, your covered core resting on his dick, making his breath stutter.

"It w-was, but not anymore if you give me a ch-"

"Stop, you didn't call me to make up. You called me to fuck, so fuck me, hee," you say, growing tired of him always trying to explain why things didn't work out between you two.

"You were always so smart," not smart enough to stay away from him, though.

He held your lower back, pressing you down on his cock. "Hmm, rub yourself on it, baby."

You did, rolling your hips and rubbing your pussy on his dick while he put his hands behind his head, enjoying the show.

You put your hands firmly on his chest, rutting against his cock, fisitng his shirt, your clit getting stimulated perfectly. "Fuck” you breathed, eyes rolling in your head.

He smiled in awe at you, watching your body move in ways that always made him feel so good. "Go on, move those little panties to the side. I know you're dying to feel it."

Shamelessly you pushed them to the side, your wet heat coming in contact with his bare cock.

"Oh fuck” he groans, feeling you sliding up and down his cock with your slick warm pussy.

You threw your head back, bucking into him.

"You're gonna cum, aren't you? Just from humping me," he says cockily, and your breath grows quicker, heart thumping. He's right, and you hate the way he knows your body so well.

You leaned against him, panting in his ear. "Hee," you moaned his name softly, hands pulling his black shirt as your hips grew tired and your wet clit brushed pleasurably on his cock.

"I'm here, baby," he whispers in your ear, hand petting your hair. "Cum on me, baby, it's okay. I got you." he holds your waist, helping you gently ride him.

"Hee," you let go, crumbling into his body, shaking as your first orgasm hit.

You nuzzled into him, panting, feeling drained already, and you two barely did anything other than grind on each other like horny teenagers.

As you lay on him, he reached down, grabbing his cock and dragging it through your sticky juices. "A-ahh," he sighed softly as you buried your face in his neck, inhaling his cologne and placing kisses on his skin.

"Your kisses alone could make me cum” he whispers, breath heavy as his eyes close.

"Then cum” you teased.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Wanna do it inside you only."

You slid your hands under his shirt, rubbing on his chest. "Then do it, put it inside me," you say, eyes glazed over, voice filled with desire.

He twitched from your words, getting impatient. "Let me get a condom first." he reaches over, opening the little console between the seats, hand blindly searching for a box of condoms until he finds a packet.

The gold wrapper comes into view and you looked in the compartment wondering if that's the same box he had when you two broke up. "You still have those?" You say, surprised.

"Yeah," he answers unbothered, opening the package with his teeth. He fumbles with it for a moment before giving up and giving it to you cause it'd be easier for you to put it on him with the limited pace. "Can you put it on me?"

With a fond chuckle, you take it from him, leaning back slightly to place it on his tip and roll it down. "Thought they'd be gone by now."

You mention as he holds you by your butt, keeping you in place so you don't fall back.

He watches you roll it down to his base, pulling at the tip slightly to make sure it stays in place. "We haven't done it for months. How would they be gone?"

Your eyes widened slightly cause that must've meant he was only sleeping with you, or maybe he was fucking other girls raw you have no idea, but you didn't want to think about that, so you gained your composure, holding his length to your hole.

"I know what you're thinking, and no, I haven't, just you always. It's only ever been you." With that, you sink down on him, a delighted hum falling from both of your guy's lips. "Don't want anybo-"

"You're doing it again," you sigh softly as you sit directly on top of his cock, feeling him reach those places that hadn't been touched by anyone else in months.

"Doing what?" He squeezed your hips, pressing his up slightly to get buried inside you fully as he rested there for a moment.

"Saying everything you know I want to hear, knowing you're not going to even text me tomorrow."

He stayed quiet, knowing what you were saying was the truth. He loved professing all his undying love for you only to ghost you the next day, and you were not about to fall for his games anymore.

"Just fuck me, hee, like you said you would save the sappy sayings for your next girl," your heart clenched at your own words. The idea of him with another girl hurt you, but you knew it was true. He didn't want you, only the sex, only your body. Nothing about you could make him change, and you accepted that a long time ago.

"There is no next girl." Before he could feed you more lies, you began to bounce on him, riding him slowly. His jaw went slack, and you smirked softly at his reaction, dragging your nails down his chest just how you knew he liked it. "Fuck fuck fuck” he huffed out every time you came down on his dick. "Ride it just like that."

You bounced on him up and down, filling yourself with his cock, his tip hitting your spot so good it made you see stars. "So good, hee." Your arousal coated his lower stomach as you bounced the car windows fogged up with your hot breaths and sweaty bodies.

"Fuck, you just can't stop coming back for this dick, huh? You know I don't love you, but your little pussy loves this dick," he groans, pulling you in closer and watching as you fuck him.

"Yes, I love it, hee, so much. Your cock is so perfect for my pussy” you cry out, feeling pathetic. Even though he just told you he didn't love you, you still loved him, and you couldn't get enough of his cock. "No one will ever compare to you."

"Fuck y/n, then date me again. Let me be the only man that fills you up and makes you cum. I might not treat you right, but I'll treat your pussy right, baby" he helps you bounce on it up and down, the sticky sounds filling up his car, and anyone outside who saw the car jumping up and down could tell what was happening on the inside.

Instead of answering, you guide his hand to your clit, and he gets the message by rubbing it softly. "Fuck!" You moaned loudly.

"That it? Right there? My baby feels good?"

"Yes. hee, I'm going to…" you collapsed on his chest, your lower body still bouncing up and down as you kissed his neck.

"Fuck y/n m-me too," he groaned, bucking up into you weakly, still rubbing on your clit. "I love you, y/"

You quickly kissed his lips to shut him up you couldn't hear him say it knowing he meant none of it.

He stuck his tongue inside your mouth and reciprocated your kiss. It was loud, wet, and sloppy.

Between the kiss, you both moaned, your bodies going stiff as you came, and he did right after you filling up the condom from the feeling of your tight walls sucking him in.

Loud whines and moans filled up the car, your bodies tiredly grinding together to finish off your orgasms.

You laid on top of him, completely spent the drinks in your system, definitely making you both feel more tired.

"Don't go," he pants softly, holding you still the second he feels you moving to leave.

"Hee"

"Please, y/n, don't," his voice broke softly, and for the first time in a long time, he actually sounded sincere.

He buried his head in your chest, hugging you close, his dick still buried to the hilt inside you. "Heeseung…"

"Call me hee," he mumbles into your chest. "I'm your hee, remember?"

"I can't." You pried his arms off you, climbing off his lap, leaving both of you feeling empty.

"Why? Just one more chance please?" The sight was pathetic his pants still down the car a mess as he reached out for you but it was too late the door was already open and you made your mind up.

You got out of the car and fixed yourself up a bit and headed towards your car ready to end this dreadful night.

Heeseung rushed to take the condom off, tossing it in a trash bag in his car, and he quickly pulled his pants up, his belt still undone as he followed after you and held you back by your arms. "No, heeseung, we're done. I'm not falling for it this time."

"I swear I'm for real, baby. I'll do whatever it takes. I'll marry you this time. We'll have kids and live together, baby, please," he begged.

You shook your head, no, yanking your arms from him and walking away. You couldn't trust what he was saying, no matter how sincere. It seems you've been through this way too many times.

"Baby, maybe not tonight, maybe not next week, but I'll wait for you. I swear I will. You're the only girl for me, and whenever you're ready, I'll be here waiting just for you," he said, tears welling in his eyes.

You lowered your head, unable to look at his crying face. "I'm so sorry. I realized how I was, but being apart from you made me reflect. And I know it sounds horrible to only realize what you have till it's gone, but you truly made me a better man and person. I'll continue to change and grow and be the man you deserve. I'll always protect and prioritize you cause I love you." he sniffled, his hands dangling awkwardly at his sides, and he wished to touch you to hold you, but he didn't, and he didn't say anything more cause he said all he needed to, but there was one last request he had. "I know I'm already asking for a lot, but can I please have a hug?"

You caved in and hugged him, wrapping him in your sweet embrace. "Hmm, my precious baby," he hummed softly. Remember, I'm always here waiting for you. I don't want no one else but you. I'll never love anyone else but you." He kissed your forehead, still sniffling.

You broke the hug and turned away, walking to your car to go home and forget this night even happened. You wished he didn't sound like he was telling the truth. You wished you didn't believe him. You almost wished he just fucked you and left like he always did instead of saying he loves you.

But you were done. Even if he did change, you had to walk away. He was no good for your life, even if you wanted him to, and to grow old with him.

You had to put yourself first because you matter the most.

But when you got home, and your head hit your pillow, you wanted to go back to him. You wanted to say yes cause he seemed for real this time, and seeing him so broken and crying for you broke your heart.

Especially the way he just stood in the middle of the road watching you drive away from him.

You wanted to feel like you were taking back your life and making the right choice, but even right now, it still felt like you were losing the love of your life.

-

Read more fics on my Patreon!

[stvrnioloslvt]

Prompt 57 + 87

Boyfriend matt x girlfriend reader

(Perhaps gf reader getting shipped w Chris. Matt is upset about it and ready to risk it all and show everyone that she’s his)

57. “have you seen the things the fans write about you and *other celeb*?”

87. "how about we give them something to talk about?"

matt wasn't the jealous type. not as much as one would think, at least. it wasn't that he didn't care about you, he was just... secure. in himself, in you, in the relationship.

he wasn't the type of boyfriend your friends were used to, controlling and overbearing. you didn't have to ask permission to go out, to wear a short skirt or do something new with your hair. he was a normal guy, really. unfortunately, what should be the normality is actually an exception. a shame, really, considering people loose themselves in toxic dynamics.

anyways, matt was not like that.

however, there was something hitting a tender spot just right in all those ship edits of you and chris. and he couldn't even pinpoint what was actually bothering him. he knew chris wouldn't do him like that, and he knew you wouldn't either. most importantly, he knew that you loved him as much as he loved you.

so, what was it?

-matt, baby, you're going to break the phone in half if you keep gripping it like that-

-hm?-

the boy rose his eyes from his phone, taking in the appearance of you curled on the sofa in front of him like a cat, one hand holding a book, the other a fuming mug. your eyes caught his before dropping to the phone in his hand, silently pointing at it.

-oh,- murmured matt, quickly releasing the device from the death grip he had it trapped in. he didn't even realise how hard his hand was cramping until now.

-what's got you so worked up anyway?- you asked, sipping from the mug slowly as to not burn your tongue (it didn't work). matt groaned, throwing the phone at his side. he ran a hand on his face, almost trying to wipe away the discomfort that certain posts brought him. -have you seen the things the fans write about you and chris?- he blurted all of the sudden, peeking at you to see your reaction.

the scene in front of his eyes was almost comical with the way you completely froze on the spot, eyes wide, lips scorching red because of the heat emanating from the hot drink. -what did you just say?- you asked incredulous.

matt sighed, slouching against the couch. -I just... apparently there are many people who want to see you with chris and it's making me loose my mind-

-oh, baby,- you cooed, leaving everything on the coffee table before straddling matt's lap on the ground, hugging him to your chest. -my sweet baby, did you really think that what these people are saying would mean anything to us?-

-I don't know,- he replied, his voice coming muffled from where his face was buried in your chest. his arms wrapped around you tightly, almost like he was fearing you would dissipate in thin air.

-silly boy, I would never do anything like that to you, and your brother wouldn't either... how about we give them something to talk about?-

at that, matt's interest spiked. he lifted his head to look up at you, curiosity written all over his face. a mischievous smile appeared on your face, and you bent back to retrieve his abandoned phone not too far from you. you unblocked it, then opened the camera.

-just a few seconds, nothing obscene, enough to make a point. you in?-

matt's jaw hung open at that, not expecting such idea coming from you. yet, he couldn't deny that he was definitely intrigued by it... and turned on, too.

he took the phone from your hands, setting it up against the couch cushions. he made sure both of you were in focus, then set play.

you giggled, clearly satisfied by your small "victory", and immediately leaned in to kiss him. what started off as a casual kiss, soon turned into a makeout session, and the camera picked up the sloppy noises of your tongues dancing together and the soft moans and pants leaving your mouths. your hips ground down on his, and he reciprocated by thrusting his hips up in sync with yours, making you feel just how bad he needed you.

you moaned his name, whimpering softly when his thumb gently swiped against your clit. -baby the video,- you managed to choke out, grabbing his wrist before he managed to make you crumble under his touch.

matt hummed, leaning back as he took the phone in his hands and pausing the video.

-keep touching yourself, baby, I have a video to post.-

© stvrnioloslvt

I hope you enjoyed it! you can find other works under the tag #© stvrnioloslvt [pick&choose] or you can request in my asks following these instructions! thank you for reading ♡

taglist: @shadowthesim237 @sturnioloszn @marrykisskilled @x0x0bunny @izzylovesmatt @gabrielaperez11 @ivysturnss @watercolorskyy @bluestriips @sllutty-sturniolo @mattsturniolover @emely9274 @boomshakalaka12381238 @lovergirl4gracieabrams @sturnsrecord @strnilolover @wastelandzella @sturnslutz @harmonysturniolo @mommymomm @mattsbrowser @chrislova @courta13

divider credits to @saradika-graphics

[leashybebes]

I hope you feel better soon! If you’d still like a make-me-write for distraction: 🌈 or ❤️‍🩹

If not, save it for a rainy day or just enjoy the emojis! lol

thanks, pal. i am definitely on the mend! here's some more ❤️‍🩹

"Hey," Buck says. He hates how cautious Tommy looks as he turns to face him.

"Hi."

"This sucks," Buck says, meaning the tension, and the spotlessness of the kitchen, and the million unsaid things between them.

"Yeah," Tommy agrees, sounding bleak. "I don't know how we do this."

"I think we should talk to someone," Buck says in a rush, and like he expected, Tommy's shoulders go tight. 

"I'm a pilot, Evan," Tommy snaps, and resumes wiping down the surfaces with what Buck thinks is unnecessary vigor. "I can't go to therapy. I can't have the kinds of problems that necessitate therapy."

This is what has always driven him craziest about Tommy. He's so black and white. He takes a position that fucking sucks for him, and then he just…hunkers down and lives in the resulting misery.

"I looked it up," Buck says, making an effort to keep his voice level. "Couples' counselling is different. It's not a psychiatrist. Not a medical professional."

The sponge pauses on the worktop for a long moment before Tommy resumes those long, careful swipes.

"I didn't know that."

"Well," Buck says instead of throwing his head back and screaming you stubborn fucking idiot. "I guess we've never had the need to find out before now."

[backinmyphase]

For over three months. You have tried to kill the King of curses Sukuna for over three months.

Four months ago your father sold you to his palace. Sure, it hurt, but you didn't have time to be sad, you had to serve the King, had to live in the small room with the other servants. You had to start to be a good servant, because if you weren't it would mean your death.

And god, did you despise this man. This monster of a man.

You had always heard the gruesome tales of him, how he killed thousands of men, how he could slice kids with a blink of an eye, how he burned down villages just because. And the moment you saw him you knew they were all... True. Yeah, they were definitely true.

On your third day he had a meeting with some men from a nearby village. You had heard them talk about trying to make a contract with the king. How they were hoping to get treasures for some women of their village.

One hour later you were ordered to clean up the leftovers of their corpses.

Of course Sukuna didn't care what servant cleaned up what, he just ordered whoever for whatever. You were sure he didn't know who you were. Still he looked at you like an ant as you sat in that pile of blood cleaning.

You felt rage, rage you had never felt before.

The same evening you decided you wanted to kill the man. You wanted to bring him down, show him his own mortality, he had so obviously forgotten. You wished, you could say it was for a noble reason, but it really wasn't. It wasn't for his victims, for the men you had to clean up.

It was purely because of your pride. Because you couldn't stand the way you had to bow before him.

You spent two weeks drawing a map of the palace, noting the schedule of the king, when he held meetings, when he dined etc. But it wasn't always completely clear, since he loved to go out and most likely terrorize people.

But after all you gathered all the information you could in these two weeks. You used your low place and profile in the palace to plot the death of the King of Curses.

At night you went out on the west side of the palace, the guards there fall as after 2 am, to run into anyone, any warrior who could take advantage of your information. Of course you didn't yell out 'Who can kill the King of Curses for me?', you did value your life. But you did know in which valleys you would find some shady figures who couldn't wait to get the information that you had. The deal was simple.

Your information for the life of the king.

There was a rather shady figure you found. You could never forget his sinister smile as he heard your request, he was no one you liked. But that didn't matter in this business.

So when you returned to the castle you had no other choice but to wait. Wait for Sukuna to fall.

One day passed. Two days passed. Three days passed. Nothing happened.

You thought the assassin had probably gotten cold feet or maybe just dipped with your information. But no that wasn't the case. There was a bad feeling in your chest which just wouldn't leave.

Till the fourth day.

That day Uruame asked for your Name. And as you gave it to them they just told you to go see the Lord.

With shaky legs you made your way to his chambers. And as you stepped in, the big man seemed to look at you for the first time.

"You wished for my presence?" you bowed before him. Unfortunately you had to.

He didn't answer, but you could feel his lingering gaze on you. Could feel him smirk. "Interesting." He only mumbled. "You are way more calm than I expected."

He let you leave after that. On the same morning you had seen other servants clean up a corpse in the garden. A corpse of a man who seemed to have been tortured. A man familiar.

The same day Uraume moved you into a big room.

"Your own chambers." They just said and left.

That was your first attempt to kill him. That was over three months ago.

Since then you had tried various things to get Sukuna to choke, both hypothetically and literally. Hired many sorcerers, tried to sabotage his thron, heck you even tried to poison him. But that bastard lived every time.

And you weren't even pissed because you failed, oh no. You were pissed because he knew you were trying to kill him and he got a kick out of it.

He had made you in charge of bringing him his food as if to challenge you. Smirked at you every time he ate.

And after every single attempt something new spawned inside of your chambers. Jewelry, clothes, a bigger chamber, food. Nothing could surprise you anymore.

You were the only servant with their own chambers, the only one in the whole palace besides Uraume he called by their name.

For other three months you were trying to kill the King of curses Sukuna.

And for over three months he had finally gotten excitement in his palace.

[thatsmooji]

dogtooth.

sigma!connie springer x reader

1.4k words: connie springer x reader, mixed!connie springer, black!reader, light angst, hurt/comfort, arguments, foul language, mentions of violence, neglectful partners, past relationships, jealous exes, pet names (ma, mama, baby, pretty girl), not really proof read

notes: hiiii! sorry that this took so long, but i finally got a laptop! it actually sucks ass, but i can write much faster on here! i lost a bit of motivation, but i know that i definitely want to write more sigma!connie and alpha!ony, so expect to see more of them! this fic doesn't have much to do with greek life, but i just wanted to note that this is part of the sigma!connie series anyway :)

“you can't keep getting into fights, connie baby.”

your boyfriend didn't respond, choosing to look out the window at the passing city as you drove him back to campus. the lights of the town shown gently on connie’s face, letting you catch slight glimpses of the bruises plaguing his beautiful cream skin. you sighed, turning your attention back towards the road.

your heart had nearly fallen into your stomach when connie called you from the police station, softly asking you to pick him up. it made you sick to see him hurt, and it didn’t help that he was being so nonchalant about it.

“they're not gonna keep giving you breaks forever, you know,” you started again, ignoring the way connie sucked in a breath next to you. “your frat brothers can only do so much. hell, i can only do so much-”

“well what am i supposed to do, ______? just let that asshole keep messing with you?” connie snapped. he was frustrated. beyond frustrated, and you'd be stupid not to know it. “he keeps playing in my fucking face.”

<3

when you got accepted into your university, you were so excited to just escape. leaving your old friends, unbearable family, and past mistakes behind. it was a new chapter in your life, and the last thing you expected was for an old character to make a reappearance.

your ex-boyfriend, aran, had followed you out of state to your university. apparently, he had been accepted on an academic scholarship, but that was very hard to believe. there was no room for anything besides high praises for himself in that brain, let alone any academic knowledge. the boy was arrogant, narcissistic, even.

looking back, the only reason you got involved with him was to maintain the high-standard image you had worked so hard to portray in high school. he was rich, and so were you. you were stunning, and he was beautiful. popular, wanted, and adored. a match pulled straight out of a high school novel.

but behind the scenes, aran was mean. at first, you believed you could learn to love him; making him lunches and dropping them off at his homeroom class, showing up to support him in any activities he decided to participate in, and even going on halfass dates with him outside of school, which usually only ended up with him heading home with a new girl’s number in his phone. it was hell dating aran, and you were so glad to leave the part of you that was ever involved with him behind.

but now he was here, tainting your new (genuine this time) picture-perfect life. everywhere you went on campus, he was there. hollering at you in the courtyard, standing behind you in the cafe, hell, even showing up to your dorm room at the ass crack of dawn. despite all of this, you ignored him. you were determined to continue revelling in the comfort you had built around you. you had new friends, new goals, new ideals, and a new and very loving boyfriend. you weren’t the selfish, inconsiderate bitch that you were in highschool anymore. you had things that you cared for, and aran was not a part of that.

it didn’t take long for aran to realize this either. and while it wasn’t as easy to break you down, it was almost comical how simple it was to get under connie’s skin; and he knew that your precious connie baby is what mattered the most.

it started harmless enough. minor taunts everytime aran caught glimpses of connie around campus, as well as the occassional shade thrown toward him on instagram or snapchat. during this stage, connie was much slower to anger, and you miraculously managed to keep him from doing anything he’d regret. you’d convinced him that the sigmas and you mattered more, and connie held onto that notion deeply.

but aran was nothing if not persistent. he began making passes at you in connie’s presense, even going as far as to slap your ass when he walked past the two of you. that was when connie’s resolve began to slip.

<3

now you were here, driving a slightly battered and bruised connie back home. you hadn’t even been present to know what went down. you were hanging out peacefully in your dorm, helping your roommate get herself together after a night out when connie called.

“what even happened, connie?” you asked, glancing over once more to see him still staring out the window. “whatever it was, i’m sure putting your hands on him wasn’t the solution.”

connie was quiet for a moment, but he sure as hell knew better than to ignore you. he scoffed before turning back to you, staring daggers as if you were the one in the wrong.

“why do you keep defending this boy?” he sneered.

your mouth gaped, honestly trying to grasp what the hell connie was talking about.

“connie, wha-”

“every fucking time me and him get into it, you always crying about ‘not putting my hands on him’ and ‘you don’t have to do allat.’ who’s side are you on, ? cause it sure as fuck don’t seem like mine. you still like that nigga or something?”

you whipped your head to look at connie, anger lacing your face. “are you fucking kidding me connie? you think i want him to keep bothering us? you think i want to see you stressing everytime aran is even mentioned? don’t talk fucking crazy to me.”

you weren’t even watching the road anymore, praying that your hand stayed steady and no one pulled out in front of you. “what? you think i’m not bothered by him too, connie? that nigga followed me here like some fucking stalker, and you think i’m okay with that? you think i like it? i don’t, but i sure as hell don’t like dragging my ass out of bed in the middle of the night, worried fucking sick, to come get your ass out of jail for fighting a mistake that i made several years ago.”

the car swerved slightly before your turned your attention back to the road, tears stinging at the back of your eyes.

“all of this ‘nagging’ and fussing i’ve been doing is for you. i don’t wanna see you lose the shit you care about because of me. i never thought i would see him again, connie. there was not a single ounce of love between us back then, and i promise you that there isn’t now,” you sniffed, scrubbing the tears off your bare face with your sleeve. “i’m sorry that he’s here. i didn’t know he would do any of this. he’s ruining everything that i worked so hard to get, bringing back the things i ran from and-”

“pull over.”

you sucked your teeth, looking over expecting to see a look of judgement, but there wasn’t. connie stared at you with soft, comforting eyes. you only ever saw them when you cried, whether you were stressed over an exam or distraught because your hair didn’t act right that day. connie has never judged you, so why would he start now?

“pull over, ma. it’s okay.”

you coughed nervously, pulling off the road into a Target parking lot close to campus. once you parked, you immediately felt connie’s arms wrap tightly around you. he gently pulled you over the seat into his lap, wiping the raw spots under your eyes with cold fingers.

“’m sorry for fighting, mama. ion wanna see you crying over this,” he started, using his other hand to rub soothing circles into your back. “i know i let my temper cloud my mind sometimes, but everybody knows i don’t play about my pretty girl.”

you looked away, trying to stifle your laugh.

“ahh there it is, look at them pretty lips,” connie grinned, pushing your face to look back at him. “i know that you’re mine, and you ain’t going nowhere. especially not for some nigga who wears skinny jeans.”

connie leaned forward, resting his face in the crook of your neck. “all i see is somebody bothering my girl, and i just don’t think. i didn’t know it was bothering you this much, baby. all my fighting and shit has been for you, but if that ain’t what you want, then it’s not gonna happen anymore.”

you nodded into his shoulder before pulling back and pressing a kiss onto connie’s forehead.

“thank you, connie baby.”

connie leaned up, quickly pressing a kiss into both of your cheeks.

“anything for you, ma.”

“…now if that nigga put his hands on you…”

“connie, please,” you scoffed before playfully nodding towards your purse. “he knows better.”

connie snorted before pulling you back in for a hug.

“that’s my girl.”

[alexanderwales]

Movie Review: A Minecraft Movie

Full disclosure: I watched a pirated version of this movie that had unfinished VFX. It showed up on a Plex server run by a friend of ours, and I had asked my son, who is nine years old and a huge Minecraft fan, whether he'd watch it at home or at the theater, and we watched the unfinished version. It said "Story by TBD" in the credits, sometimes you'd see a halo of green in someone's hair where they hadn't finished laboriously keying out the green screen ... I'll be honest, I think this really enhanced my enjoyment of the movie, because every now and then you'd get a scene where, for example, the villagers are all dressed up extras without the heads on, just some motion tracking caps. It cracked me up. I have no idea how different the movie would be with full VFX, nor what changes and cuts ultimately ended up being made. Take this review with a grain of salt.

One of the things I was really curious about when watching this movie was what kind of humor it would have, and I think my takeaway is that it's kind of all over the place. It's at least partially written and directed by the same guy who did Napoleon Dynamite, a forgotten classic, and in a lot of places you can really tell. In other places ... much less so.

My favorite joke of the whole movie was when they've gotten ahold of the mystery orb and there's a note with it that says "don't put this in the shell" or whatever, and then on the back it says "even if you're a struggling businessman who really needs the money", which is exactly the situation they're in. Stupid and meta, that's my kind of joke.

But there's also a lot of slapstick humor, people falling down played for laughs, and there's awkward humor too, where the enjoyment comes from a slightly off person being put on display. In places very reminiscent of Napoleon Dynamite, but mostly only in the "real world" portion of the movie where the first third takes place. And then there's also some "lol random" humor mixed in there.

So on the humor front, something that I was paying attention to, it's a really mixed bag, and I would say that a lot of the humor just fails to come together because of that. I think good humor needs some kind of frame to it, because humor is about subversion of expectations, and with unclear expectations, the jokes are going to land worse. That's just my opinion though.

In terms of story, the main thing I was looking for was "what's the message of this movie". And here ... I guess I would say it's "be yourself", but if that's the thematic core of the movie, I think Jason Momoa's character is a problem. He's already going on his own path, mired in the past but definitely his own person, and his problem seems to be that other people just aren't that into it. And the solution to that is ... make a friend? He notably does not do much mining or crafting.

The actual ending message of the movie seemed to be "yeah, Minecraft is pretty great, but you can take that energy you're putting into the game out into the real world" or something like that, which is how everyone gets their unrealistically happy ending. It's overshadowed by Jack Black singing and dancing, but my son really liked that part, so I guess it's hitting the target audience.

I thought it was a pretty inconsistent movie, one that didn't know what it was trying to be or say, and you know, that's probably fine. The writing was pretty poor, and I'm not sure that the movie really "got" what Minecraft is, but I also don't think it needed to.

There was a pig that waddled onto screen and he was wearing a crown, and my son yelled "Technoblade!" He said it was overall "pretty good", which isn't exactly a roaring endorsement, but it seemed like he had a good time. We neglected to throw popcorn at the screen when the chicken jockey appeared, mostly because I would have had to be the one to clean it up. My son's one criticism was that they were mostly just not very good at Minecraft, and there were times he was yelling at the screen that of course the zombies are spawning, you need to put torches up.

Oh, one other thing: I've always been a Jack Black fan, having seen Nacho Libre in theaters, but I think this movie did some permanent damage to my enjoyment of him. There was something about the singing, and the kicking, and the mugging for the camera that was just too much for me. Like I hit my lifetime quota of Jack Black.

Maybe I'll feel differently if I see it with finished VFX.

[postcardsfromheapside]

When you complain "if only X character had writers who loved them," what do you mean? 

Like what you do actually mean. 

I'm about to go on a rant about a particular character I see this about MOST, but this question is definitely not limited to him - I've seen it about multiple characters.

What is it you want from Anders and the writers. Because what it feels like from the posts where I see this phrase, is that people wanted Anders to be avenged in DA:I, or even Veilguard - for some of the characters to admit that maybe he was correct. Or maybe for there to be codex entries, SOMETHING that would hint that the mad apostate who blew up the chantry was justified. 

Except Dragon Age isn't like that. 

This entire series is about people who do awful things because they think they had a reason to do them, and sometimes those awful acts are completely understandable and maybe you can even justify them in context, but that in no way means that the in-world characters *have* to forgive anyone for anything, and the writers don't have to write them that way, no matter how they feel about the character. 

(I already have heard shitty things about Anders' writer, so before you @ me, please know, I'm composing this A of all, already understanding that context and B, also knowing that sometimes writers create characters who give offense on purpose, and that it's okay to like those characters without justifying their actions. Solas, anyone?) 

It's actually really frustrating as someone who is an Anders fan to see people whine "oh, if only he had a writer who loved him" as if he isn't a well-written character. 

The man is obsessive, annoyingly focused on his goals, constantly leaving bits of his unwanted manifesto everywhere. He's shitty to Fenris (although Fenris starts a lot of it and gives as good as he gets), and he probably deserved the moniker Broody as much as Fenris did. He's harsh to Merrill and quite often an unprompted asshole to Aveline. He's also incredibly kind and compassionate, and really does spend almost all of his free time living his truth: trying to save mages from terrible treatment which is only growing worse - most of which we do not see on-screen so shallow viewing doesn't make it seem quite as bad as he claims. He also freely gives of his healing talents, regardless of who comes asking, at great personal risk. Whatever you say about him, you can't claim he doesn't live what he says he believes. And then there's the fact that he's actually quite funny, and when his "moods" aren't on him, his banter with Varric and Merrill especially is very cute, hinting that there's a different person inside of him, had he not gone through everything he had since Awakening (maybe even before). If you romance him, he's passionate and caring and weirdly funny with Hawke as well, two freaks who "get" each other. 

Strange that I've managed to pull all of this out of someone who apparently the writers "didn't love", this rounded character who has multiple facets to him. 

No one in DA:I is required to forgive Anders, regardless of which storyline you take. Varric sees him as the man who blew up a portion of "his" beloved city, who got a LOT of people killed, and maybe effectively exiled his friend. Cassandra and Leliana, for all their wishes to reform the chantry, still believe in the chantry as an institution. Vivienne still believes in the circles. Solas doesn't give a flying fuck about that guy - mage freedom isn't really on his mind, except in that he's pretending to be an apostate until he sheds his disguise. Who were you expecting to exonerate Anders, exactly, with their own limited perspectives? 

To be honest, I wouldn't have forgiven him either, except in that I too have lived in a world where people's rights were slowly being stripped away by an unempathetic crazy person and the governing body that could have stopped the clown in office collectively sat back and in the end did fuck all about it. 

You're meant to think about these things, just like you're meant to think about the stuff going on in Veilguard on which people have been posting metas. Is Bioware ham fisted at this commentary? 100% But it's there. Otherwise I wouldn't have seen so many good character analyses of Anders (and other characters I've seen this complaint about). 

"If only he had writers who loved him" my sibling in Thedas they did their job, you're out here on this cloutless website crying into the void about your favorite little guy. Now go figure out why you need him to be a hero within the story itself, instead of him existing as he is and you thinking about how many people have flawed or shaded perspectives about the people who try, in different and sometimes awful ways, to change history.

[nquesoxlies]

https://www.tumblr.com/nquesoxlies/780567152604463104/let-people-be-upset-about-their-favorite?source=share

tbh there's also something a loooot of ppl need to learn calling "setting realistic expectations." i personally wouldn't want eddie back without an on-screen conversation between him and CHRIS about what CHRIS wants, otherwise his entire plot in texas would feel kinda moot with a throwaway "yeah chris is fine with coming back to LA :)" since this plot was big enough for eddie to drop everything to go finally make things right with his son. i didn't expect for him to show up for the two-parter. meanwhile, everyone i saw who was momentarily disappointed bc no tommy was like "ah well, we know we're almost definitely getting him next episode bc of leaks" and went on to enjoy the episode as a whole

its genuinely fine to go "aw no eddie? :(" its Not fine to review bomb an episode and repeatedly bitch about the director not putting ur favorite man in the episode when it makes 0 sense for him to come back so quickly and without showing us that he IS still working on being a better dad to chris. hell, go write fanfic about it where eddie IS back instead of review bombing!!! that's probably a way more fun use of time than review bombing!!!

honestly, these fans make me dislike eddie more and more ngl which isn't even the actor or the writers faults at all. if he leaves the show then it's not going to impact me that much unless his ending is fully unsatisfying, and that'll be more of a "cmon, writers, you knew this was where this was going, do better." i have never watched the show only for eddie like these people have. came into the show expecting to love madney + henren and ended up very emotionally invested in bathena while enjoying buck and eddie as well. i'm on the same page as a lot of ppl who have been here longer than i have been: we love the entire show rather than just eddie. honestly, i think half of these people don't even like buck. i already know most of them don't give a shit about the rest of the show from insulting ravi over him distracting buck with tommy to turning josh into the "number 1 b*ddie cheerleader" to ignoring henren unless they can use them as a "gotcha!!! you don't actually care about queer rep!!!" like.

@ BoBs: do YOU? because every time there's queer rep that threatens ur fanon ship, u actively get homophobic about it down to, what, 600? of you PROUDLY admitting you would commit a hate crime to make your stupid ship canon--including both real men and fictional characters like josh and tommy in your "i'd hate crime for them teehee!" bullshit.

idk queso its just wild to me how often i also see the "eddie diaz pretty pretty princess who wants to paint his nails!!!" like. painting ur nails isnt gendered, the fuck? BoBs see anyone gender non-conforming and goes "wow, inherent sign of queerness, i am very smart :)" while feeding directly into toxic masculinity with the idea that if you don't adhere strictly to what's deemed masculine, then clearly you're queer. even if you say you're straight and know you're attracted to women and only women, you're gay because you (checks notes) have emotions and cry over your friends and did ballroom dancing when you were younger.

anyway if im being petty then i kinda hope that eddie leaves to focus fully on chris and making a life for the two of them in el paso and ravi takes his place on the team so that we get indian rep permanently on the show for a bit! i think he could bring some new life into the team (regardless of whether the show goes on for one season or more) and it'd be nice to see buck in a mentor position to him. plus i'd love to see his dynamic with the rest of the team <3 i am still available to play his love interest who is there for a single episode before being relegated to one-off mentions <3 /hj

Yes to alllllll of this, Annie!!!

What's ironic to me, based on something you mentioned, is the nail painting. They want sooooo hard for RG to actually be gay yet an actor who does paint his nails (for self-harm reasons) they call a slur and tell him to die.

Like???? Wtf are we doing???

(I know your ask is about the characters but that shit will always rub me the wrong way about Ryan stans)

[cripplecharacters]

Hey, first, thank you for the work you do here. Second, I'm a bit stumped and I'd like some opinions.

There's a character in the game Darkest Dungeon called "The Leper", who's based on the movie Kingdom of Heaven's depiction of Baldwin IV (also called The Leper), so he has a dramatic facial difference and all the stuff you'd expect from the disease in medieval times. There's a lot one could discuss, but my question is more about how to approach the character in a modern AU.

In our times, Hansen's disease is highly treatable and it's unlikely someone outside of poor isolated areas would suffer so severely from it. So I'm stuck between two options: 1. Make a nod towards the fact the character did get sick but got treated 2. Attributing his facial difference and other potential disabilities to another cause. Neither feel ideal. Option 1 makes him abled, but 2 kind of treats this highly contextual element as interchangeable with other forms of disability? Do you guys have other ideas, or maybe either could be fine with the right execution?

Hey!

I'm familiar with game but played the first one years ago so I might misremember some lore of that one. And there is definitely a lot to say about Baldwin/The Leper (both good and bad) but I'll just get to the questions.

I think that option two or secret option three would be better here. Since being ill is a major part of his character I don't think just having him be cured is the way, even if it's the realistic option for a modern AU - and to be honest, whenever I see a canonically disabled character get cured in a fanfiction my mind immediately goes to "author didn't want to deal with a disabled character" (since that's usually the case) even if it's a rare scenario like here where it would actually be the realistic option.

Option two would be giving him a different condition with matching characteristics (mainly the facial difference and partial? blindness) and that obviously raises some issues. However, I genuinely think there is some wiggle room to make it make sense.

"Whether by some affliction of lineage or by direct transmission, symptoms of incurable disease..."

...is what the second game says. It considers it to be some Disease with an Unclear Cause.

To the player it's obvious that it's Hansen's disease just because of his title, but it seems to be at least somewhat unclear in-universe if it's actually that or a genetic disorder of some sort. I'm mostly bringing this up as an argument that could back up option two, but I also always found it unusual that they didn't specify it and went with the "it's ambiguous" explanation, especially since the character's title is literally The Leper, which seems almost inconsistent. This brings me to a second point:

People with conditions that are categorically not X but look like X from the outside can and are wrongly categorized as having X. Could Baldwin have something else and be called a leper by others as either a pejorative or just a case of misidentification? I don't know, maybe. It could be me projecting the amount of people I've seen get accused of having monkeypox while they literally just have genetic conditions, which I guess is the modern version of that happening with someone being accused of having Hansen's.

Either way, there is at least this one (1) line that allows for reading Baldwin as having some other condition. He is of course based on the Leper King who did have Hansen's disease, but there are a lot of things that the game changes - the situation where he contracted the disease, his age when that happened, his symptoms (the actual king was supposedly unable to walk), his ethnicity, etc... It's definitely not 1:1. And in a modern AU it's going to be even further from the original inspiration anyway.

I'll also say that him having Hansen's disease isn't actually that consistent with what his backstory implies - specifically the infection-to-symptoms speed that Baldwin is shown to have is very unusual for Hansen's disease. He is implied to experience changes in his appearance etc. extremely fast after the infection (or "infection"), but the shortest time for that to happen in actual Hansen's disease is around 9 months from what I've read, with the more common timeline being around 5 years - that's for first signs, not the very severe end that he is shown to be experiencing. The real life king first contracted the disease as a child but allegedly his disfigurement only started after he became a king (so in his teens). It also requires much more contact to actually contract Hansen's than Baldwin is ever shown to have with the sick people he's comforting, so that doesn't really match either (in real life, you need prolonged, frequent contact with an infected person's droplets, it explicitly doesn't spread through touch).

For Baldwin to still work as the character, I think he'd need a similar set of symptoms rather than the actual diagnosis of Hansen's. My first idea here was noma, which probably fits Baldwin's actual symptoms (and their onset speed) more than Hansen's disease, but it'd be heavily dependent on where he'd be from in the AU since it's primarily a tropical disease. Second option could be neurofibromatosis (type 1), it's genetic, it'd be realistic to have severe symptoms even with modern medicine, and it can start somewhat suddenly (e.g. less disabling signs often appear early and progress slowly, but a larger tumor can be triggered by an injury). Third option could be congenital syphilis since it's very common in the modern times (rare to have it so severe nowadays, but possible) and fits a lot if not all of Baldwin's symptoms, aside from the onset and progression speed.

Now, the issue with all of these is that they, unlike Hansen's, aren't contagious from person to person. That's something that you would have to change - messing with a disability's "contagiousness status" is one of those things where I always have to say no because it's related to actual stigma that affects people. Since it's already a modern AU I assume you're going to change how he got his disability in the first place, but as a rule of thumb: if it's not contagious in real life, don't make it so in fanfiction either.

Third secret option is making him have Hansen's disease and be from one of those regions where it does actually occur to that severity. The two options here are really just India or Brazil since those are the only places with a relatively high number of cases (out of these two Brazil would make more sense for Baldwin since he's shown to be Black in the second game, but there are Black Indians too). You'd probably have to redo a lot of his backstory for all of it to make sense, but it is technically an option; people still get Hansen's in modern times.

Thank you for the question and I hope the answer helps,

mod Sasza

[shiny-jr]

Hi shiny!! Have you heard the TWST dorm songs yet? If/when you have, which ones your fav??

Listening to them at this very moment. Here are my real time thoughts on each. Reminder, I do not know Japanese so I'm going purely off vibes and sound.

Heartslabyul - "Obedience"

I mean, it's alright. There isn't anything memorable about it. It's a song I'll forget how it goes by the time I finish typing out all my thoughts. There's nothing really neat about it, no elements of a certain genre to whimsical feel to it. It's just generic.

2. Savanaclaw - "Diadem"

Okay, okay, that's an interesting start. I like it. I'm hooked. As I listen to more, I feel like they had a general vibe they were going for, like they knew what they wanted for this song, which I didn't really feel for Heartslabyul. It's not really catchy, but I do enjoy the guitar in the back that gives it a sorta "metal" feel. It's a vibe.

3. Octavinelle - "Entanglement"

Woooooo, yeahhhhh, baby. That's what I've been waiting for, that's what it's all about. I heard 0.02 seconds of jazz and knew this would be a good one. Tell me why all three VAs popped off for this one? They lowkey ate. This one is my favorite so far.

4. Scarabia - "Far Out"

Wait a minute, wait a minute, this one might top Octavinelle. The first fifteen seconds hit hard. Give me a moment... Okay, okay, I'm digging the subtle beat in the background. I'm not even halfway through it, and I'm afraid this slaps. This is a certified banger. I know some of the beats from this one will be stuck in my head later.

5. Pomefiore - "La Volonté"

Okay, it's giving Phantom of the Opera for some reason? That may not be accurate, but I was not expecting the soft classical sorta music then strong voices. There's an elegance to it when the tone shifts to a softer side. There's not much else I can say, other than if it weren't for Scarabia and Octavinelle being such strong competition, Pomefiore definitely could have been on the top.

6. Ignihyde - "Souzetsu Aion"

This one definitely has different vibes from the others. Idia's VA is one of my favorites so it's going to be hard not to give them points for that. As nice as it is so far, there isn't really anything remarkable about it.

7. Diasomnia - "Capricious Natural Disaster"

Nice. Feels like a gothic sort of intro. It fits. Cool. I was not super impressed until I heard Malleus' solo. Okay, okay, get it. Is that a choir I hear in the back? Y'all should know, I am a sucker for dramatic songs with a choir. They are my weakness. I thought I was going to put this below Pomefiore, maybe I would have to give them a listen again to see which I like better, but the choir at the very end sealed the deal.

Shiny's final list, from their most favorite to least favorite:

Scarabia

Octavinelle

Diasomnia

Pomefiore

Ignihyde

Savanaclaw

Heartslabyul

[toribellsa]

4 times Lando the cheetah tried to woo Oscar and 1 time Oscar figured it out

1 // 2

Attempt 1.

Lando was always a bit unpredictable, but his werewolf nature made his behavior even more eccentric. He started using the traditional cheetah courtship from the wild, which was an important ritual for his species. Oscar, as his teammate, couldn't always figure out what was going on, although he thought he understood Lando. But each time Lando became more playful and unpredictable, especially if he changed into his cat form. At such moments, Oscar watched him with bewilderment and a slight laugh, not knowing how to react to all these antics of his teammate.

One day, they were sitting together in the garage after a long day at the track. Lando was in his beast form. He sat with all his weight leaning against Oscar's side, purring contentedly to himself. The sounds were a bit odd, Oscar couldn't explain what was wrong, but he could definitely tell that the purring was different today, lower. But at some point, something happened that Oscar didn't expect. Lando suddenly straightened up and, as if he couldn't help himself, licked Oscar's face, with several wide, sweeping movements of his tongue. It was unexpected and a bit strange, it seemed, for both of them. Oscar blinked in surprise, trying to figure out what had happened, while Lando froze with a stupid expression on his face. His tongue was still hanging out and his eyes were comically wide.

 - Okay, buddy, that's cute, but please don't do that again. - Oscar chuckled softly and reached for a towel to wipe Lando's drool off his cheeks. He also didn't appreciate the "advantages" of Lando the cheetah's rough tongue - it left an unpleasant feeling on his skin, and he could bet that his cheek would soon become irritated. Lando only purred louder in response, as if apologizing for the fact that his instincts took over his human part.

Attempt 2.

With each passing day, Lando became more and more playful when he was around Oscar. He began to shift into his cat form more often and run around the garage or the factory, for which he was reprimanded many times by those around him. He jumped from one place to another, as if demonstrating his grace and speed, but at the same time, constantly looking back, checking if Oscar was watching him. Oscar always treated this with interest, which made Lando's chest swell with pride. He thought that he could definitely impress Oscar. But he shouldn't let such thoughts distract him during his little demonstrations. John, his trainer, always told Lando that he shouldn't let thoughts of Oscar mix with any activity, because it would lead to disaster one day. And that's what happened this time. Lando, he swears, accidentally, crashes into the glass wall of the factory that overlooks the courtyard of their command headquarters. The glass cracks from the impact, but fortunately does not break completely; Lando jumps back with a surprised expression.

 - Are you okay? - Oscar's voice sounds worried as he leaves his place on the couch and approaches Lando, gently touching his head, which took most of the impact. He lightly strokes the soft fur under his fingers, giving comfort to the large cat in front of him. Lando licks Oscar's palm ("We only agreed on the face, buddy!"), then lets out a soft meow, and then, as if remembering, he turns back into a human.

- Yeah, yeah! - Lando's voice is embarrassed, but he is clearly trying to pretend that everything is fine. - I just... wanted to test the strength of the glass!

Oscar starts laughing loudly at this, and a soft warmth spreads in Lando's chest. He may not have been able to impress Oscar with his skills, but at least he can make him laugh. Even if he sometimes looks stupid, the main thing is Oscar's sincere, wide smile.

Unfortunately for him, however, this incident attracted the attention of Zack and Andrea. Both executives left Zack's office with very dissatisfied expressions.

- Lando! - Zack's stern voice echoed throughout the open space of the room. - You can't just run around the plant like that. It's dangerous not only for you and the property, but also for those around you.

Lando tried to justify himself, but Zack refused to listen, saying that he would deduct the repairs from Lando's salary. The young man only sighed heavily and nodded in agreement.

Attempt 3.

Lately, Lando had started inviting Oscar and his trainer Kim to train with him. This had happened so often lately that John simply suggested to Kim that they put together a common program for the guys, although it was strange from a competitive point of view. And most often, the training threatened to turn into a giggling disaster, but the team decided that it could be a good team building for them.

Although, in Oscar's opinion, Lando was acting a little strange. During training, he tried his best, as if challenging Oscar in every exercise that they performed under the supervision of their trainers. Lando lifted weights with such determination on his face that even John couldn't help but laugh at him every time, while Oscar had a puzzled expression on his face.

- Are you serious? - John laughed. - You know this is just a warm-up, not a competition?

Lando rolled his eyes at these words. He was upset every time he noticed that the weights Oscar used in his exercises were about the same or even more than his own. He felt a little insecure about this, because he always thought that due to his nature, he should be stronger than normal people. After all, his genes were half beast genes. When he complained about this to Max after another training session, Max only asked if Formula 1 racers could be considered normal people.

This made Lando calm down and think. After all, racers are a special category. This means that he and Oscar are simply equal to each other. It's just a shame that Oscar was more focused on results during training than on his teammate. Or so Lando thought.

Attempt 4.

Lando decided that if all the more subtle advances of his kind had passed Oscar by, he needed to act more decisively and directly. So Lando decided that he just needed to demonstrate his hunting skills to prove to Oscar that he was a reliable partner and provider.

That's why he starts bringing Oscar food: coffee and a sandwich in the morning, because he knows that Oscar sacrificed his breakfast for sleep. At lunch, he puts some fruit on Oscar's plate, and also leaves a box of various bars and snacks in his driver's room so that the guy can always have a snack whenever he wants. One time he even invites Oscar to dinner at a good fish restaurant, to which he receives raised eyebrows in mock horror and the question "Who are you and where have you put my Lando?". The phrase "my Lando" drowns Norris's brain, but in the end they agree on a compromise in this matter. They go to a small and cozy restaurant where they serve both fish and a bunch of dishes without it. Lando notes to himself that this is a date, Oscar just doesn't know about it.

Each time Lando tried to choose something special for Oscar. It's a pity that Oscar did not understand what was behind Lando's actions.

+1

Oscar and Lando were sitting in an empty conference room that had not yet begun to fill with people. Lando was editing the photos he had taken today on his phone, while Oscar was quietly watching Lando himself.

This morning he had a rather strange conversation with Max. They had known each other for a long time, but this was the first time that Lando's best friend had left Oscar so confused.

The entire conversation was some kind of hints that constantly rested on Lando's animal nature, on the fact that the young cheetah was somewhat different from Oscar himself, an ordinary man. He asked if Oscar had noticed any oddities in Lando's behavior and much more. In the end, this conversation left him only confused and at a loss.

So now Oscar sat and scrolled through the pages on the Internet about werewolves. It was a mindless action, until his gaze caught on the line:

Courtship rituals

The young pilot seemed to hear the sound of his thoughts swarming in his head when he typed a new query into the search engine.

Oscar starts googling "cheetah habits and their courtship rituals"; he realized that many of the things that had puzzled him now fell into place. He was such an idiot, God.

- You know, I came across an interesting article about cheetah courtship. - Oscar spoke slowly, as if he was afraid to scare Lando. - Special sounds for a chosen mate, acts of affection like licking, showing off their strength and speed, their shape, getting food to show that they can take care of their offspring.

With each word Oscar spoke, Lando went through a whole range of emotions, because he could not understand how Oscar felt about his discovery.

- Should I be happy that it was not raw game? - Oscar's eyebrows rose questioningly, but his expression remained soft.

- I'm not a savage! - Lando showed with all his appearance that Oscar's suspicions offended him to the depths of his soul, although his ears turned traitorously red. His voice became quieter. - I just wanted to show you what I can do ...

In fact, he was a savage. It was just that his mother had managed to convince him that a fresh carcass in Oscar's driver's room would feel more like a threat than a caring gesture. Deep down, Lando had always understood and accepted his instincts and desires; they were part of him as a werewolf.

But now he was trying to show that he could be the perfect guy for Oscar - caring and attentive. He hoped that Oscar understood this and could accept this part of Lando, too.

- You know, I don't know much about werewolf courtship, but I do know a little about human courtship. - Oscar approached Lando and touched his hand, which was tightly clutching the fabric of his racing costume. – Will you go on a date with me?

Lando couldn’t help but smile when Oscar said those words. A real fire of joy and relief ignited inside him. He felt his heart beat faster, and a warmth spread in his chest. All his efforts, all those moments when he tried to impress Oscar, had finally paid off.

- Yes! - He blurted out, and he immediately realized that he might have overreacted. Lando quickly corrected himself - I mean… yeah, of course! I’d love to go on a date with you.

Oscar smiled back, and Lando felt his cheeks flush slightly. He couldn’t believe that this was actually happening.

[certifiedsexed]

hello! a while ago i had a conversation with my girlfriend that i found kind of distressing and sometimes i think back to it and get kind of worried? and i am not sure how to handle it. for context i'm transfem and she's cis, i do not know how exactly how much this factors into this?

we're long distance so we haven't had an opportunity to do anything in person yet but we've talked about sex or sexted plenty of times. a pretty long time ago now there was one time when she was initiating that and i wanted to go along with it but i couldn't really get into the right headspace for it (wasn't anxious, i was just getting really distracted, couldn't get into it). she got pretty frustrated about it which was understandable.

then more recently, a long time after that, we were talking and i thought she was trying to initiate something (turned out she wasn't but. not really the focus) and so i tried to go along with it but ended up sorta overthinking the scenario she was talking about and got too anxious. and then started feeling really scared & upset with myself about not being able to roll with it (felt like i was failing by not being receptive enough, or letting her down really REALLY badly or something?), which took me further out of the mood which caused a feedback loop, and i don't know if it was an anxiety attack or what, but? it was definitely unexpected and i hadn't had feelings like that before (& haven't since, either, but maybe just because i haven't had trouble staying in the right mood on any occasions since then?). and after i got myself together enough to tell my girlfriend (and we cleared up the slight miscommunication) i was still feeling pretty vulnerable. so i asked her, if one day she really was initiating something, potentially in person, but i got too anxious and had to stop, would she be angry with me?

and. she didn't give me a "no"? if she were to ask me that question, my answer would be "no, absolutely not, not in a hundred years, even if i was looking forward to it it wouldn't matter to me anymore, your well-being is so much more important". which is something i've tried very hard to make clear in the past. and when i asked her, i was kind of hoping to get an answer which at least kind of mirrors that sentiment (although she has a hard time being soft, so probably a little more blunt?). but it just, wasn't there. she was totally insistent that if i ever need to stop then that means we don't go any further, but, she seemed to kind of, not be willing to say that she wouldn't be angry? when i expressed that it would be difficult for me to hit the brakes if i expect her to be angry about it, she just reaffirmed that i should absolutely never ever do anything sexual that i'm not feeling okay about.

i don't know if it makes sense for this to bother me, but it kind of does? i do appreciate that she emphasized the importance of my consent & well-being, and i also appreciate that she was, evidently, taking care not to make promises she can't expect to keep, about how she'd feel in the moment. but. the fact that she can't make that promise is itself distressing to me...? on the one hand, it is kind of unsettling to me that the way I know I would feel, doesn't seem to go the other way. on the other hand, i don't know if it is unreasonable of me to have these expectations for how she should feel emotionally about things? it's not like she'd choose to get angry, and clearly she wants me to stop things if i have to regardless, so it feels like it would be inappropriate to wish she would feel some other way than she would.

but also, internally, i'm worried that if i know she'll be angry, i won't be able to stop things, at least not deliberately? i know in my heart that if i were in that situation and i had the option to swallow my discomfort and go along, just to avoid making her mad, that i would, even though i know it wouldn't be right and isn't what she'd want. but i also know that my insecurity & people-pleasing are problems of mine, and not her responsibility. it's not her fault that i'm ill-equipped (or, honestly, unwilling) to assert boundaries or stand up for myself, and if I were to let myself trick her into hurting me because of that, I would be doing wrong by her, not the other way around. and, frankly, i kind of wear my emotions on my sleeve, i wouldn't even be capable of hiding my discomfort, so she'd obviously be able to tell & hit the brakes herself - so does any of this actually matter at all??

as additional context, she has some sexual trauma from a past relationship, and i don't. i have my own anxieties & baggage relating to sex, just, from being a trans lesbian and stuff, but it's obviously not the same, so i'm of course not entirely on the same wavelength as her. everything about this feels so complicated and it seems like almost anything could be a factor? and she's so patient with me about other things. I second-guess myself CONSTANTLY about basically everything, and I feel like most of the people who i could talk to about it might not necessarily get it. so i've just been kind of ruminating in circles and turning it into a huge tangled mess in my head.

i'm very sorry about the super super long ask! i hope it isn't too much trouble. thank you for running this blog!

Hello! This is admittedly more of a therapy thing but I'm going to answer this anyway.

So, here's the thing, Anon: I don't know your girlfriend, so I can't guarantee what she meant. Maybe she's also overthinking and going "I don't want to promise something definitely when maybe someday something obscure is going to happen and cause me to break that promise" or some shit.

That said, I think this is definitely important!

You deal with a lot of anxiety and this sounds like it'll probably further complicate sex, especially if you don't figure out exactly what she means. It makes sense you'd be wary or bothered at the possibility she might be angry at you for not being able to have sex, that's scary!

Being wary that someone might be angry at you for something you can't help isn't the same as dictating someone's emotions, Anon. That's a very natural reaction, actually. It's what one might call "a red flag".

You do have personal responsibility about your consent and boundaries and insecurities, that's true, but those are also part of your relationship now.

You should both know about each others feelings and boundaries and making sure each other are consenting. It would not just be your fault if you agreed to something because you were trying to manage her emotions and issues.

I know this probably isn't the advice you want, Anon, but this is a situation where you need to talk to her. Explain to her what you're worried about, ask her why she insinuated she might get angry at you for saying no, all of that.

You're in a relationship. Communicating is a very important part of that, especially if sex is involved and you both have baggage.

Neither of you should be having sex without talking more and figuring out how to manage each others triggers and boundaries and if she doesn't want to talk about this, don't have sex.

If she's not kind about it or refuses to talk, then it sounds like she's not a good person for you to be with.

Also, if she's going to be mad at you for saying no and there's no discussion of "how do we build trust so that you understand my possible anger is my issue and you should not say yes to manage it", then it also sounds like she's not a good person for you to be with.

Because that's clearly a trigger for you (which is very fair) and you've already stated it would impair your ability to consent properly.

You don't need to have specific trauma related to sex to be allowed to have specific boundaries and questions surrounding it, Anon and if she's kind and patient outside of this, I think she'll understand that. Talk.

I'm not sure if this is helpful but don't worry about the long ask, it's okay. Lemme know if you have any other questions. Sending love and courage, Anon. <3

[grasshopperdoingdogpaddle]

Do you think anyone who's ever met both of them ever notice any similarities between Dashi and Raimundo? By which I mean do you think Omi, Dojo, Guan, or Chase ever draw comparisons? (I think Omi's perspective would be most interesting since he had this larger than life image of Dashi before finding him napping in the bushes next to a pig pen.)

Wuya, Guan, and Hannibal, yes. They probably see something similar there in Dashi and Raimundo's demeanors and personalities.

Wuya sort of saw Raimundo as a potential mini-Dashi-- one that could maybe work out for her this time.

A laidback Xiaolin monk, but this one with weaker loyalty to the other monks and more personal ambition than Dashi himself had. Like Dashi, he wants to relax and have fun and chafes against expectations from authority.

And Raimundo hasn't come into himself or his powers yet, so she viewed him as a diamond in the rough that could grow to match the potential she wanted to use from Dashi. One she could mold from the start and have on her side before any loyalties to the temple or the world have been solidified, and before he's as comfortable in himself as Dashi was.

The way she goes about trying to keep him satisfied and entertained. It's probably partly where she thought she went wrong with Dashi, that Chase and Guan were apparently just more fun for him.

She fails to actually build any kind of actual emotional connection here. Probably moreso than with Dashi, partly because there's not actually anything mutual that's about to form here.

And after that fails, she doesn't keep trying to get Raimundo back to her side because, like it ultimately didn't work out with Dashi, she sees it as a lost cause and doesn't want to waste her time instead of setting them firmly as enemies.

Wuya's definitely the one who's noticed the most similarities between Raimundo and Dashi's fighting styles. Especially in their hand-to-hand combat, but also in the way he uses his elements and battles from a distance too.

You can see it in their brief one-on-one bouts in the ways she counters or evades or anticipates Raimundo's moves, and also in the ways she still gets tripped up or caught off guard in the middle of these matches. Because as much as she recognizes the similarities in their fighting styles, you can only rely on that to a certain point when one of those similarities is "airy and unpredictable."

And Wuya would be the best equipped to noticed the similarities on the battlefield, because she's the only one alive today who's actually fought Dashi seriously from the opposite side of things.

The tricks she uses against him are probably pretty similar to the tricks she used against Dashi as well. The flattery she uses on Raimundo (that genuinely works to distract him) is very different and more effective than the type we see her try to use against Chase Young or against Kimiko-disguised-as-Jack.

Hannibal comes at it in sort of the same perspective as Wuya. Hannibal is pretty good at getting a read on people. Tries to use his prior knowledge of Dashi in combination with what he sees in Raimundo to try to manipulate him, ultimately fails.

And Guan is also good at getting a read on people and assessing others to know how to interact with them. So he'd seem some similarities, as well as be able to catalogue every difference.

He spent years learning how to work alongside Dashi, what makes him tic and what motivates him, what he excels at and some of the surprises he has in store.

Guan and Dashi have stood on the battlefield together, and Guan and Dashi have pulled pranks together. He sees it in Raimundo.

Guan noting the similar personalities and styles is a lot of groundwork for when Guan and Raimundo teamed up and made that plan together.

And Guan's feelings about Dashi are far less complicated than Guan's feelings about Chase, so Guan seeing some similarities between Raimundo and Dashi makes it easier for Guan to know how to go about working with Raimundo.

As opposed to how Omi's similarities with (and very close mutual relationship with) Chase makes it more difficult for Guan to work with Omi.

As for Chase, Omi, and Dojo... I don't think they would draw those comparisons so readily.

Chase looks down on and doesn't think much of the other Xiaolin monks, and he looked at Dashi like he was a man that could have singularly hung the stars in the night sky, so I doubt he'd readily equate Dashi to anyone else in the world either, since Chase met Dashi when Chase was so young and Dashi was his first friend and such a larger-than-life figure to him.

Guan and Dashi were such formative figures to him and Chase respected them so much that he's not going to see anyone he doesn't respect as very similar to either of them. Chase is pretty good at twisting his internal logic to see things however he wants to see them or avoid seeing things how he doesn't want to see them, after all. (Like the way that Chase genuinely counts the scheme in "Judging Omi" and "Saving Omi" as Omi "choosing evil for himself")

Omi first met Dashi in person after the betrayal that forever tints his shaky bond with Raimundo in such a unique way, that I don't think Omi is likely to draw parallels between Rai and anybody else.

No one's ever quite hurt Omi this deeply before or after. It leaves a scar that's a defining moment for their relationship to him. And it doesn't get the space to ever heal as time goes on, especially with how Raimundo exacerbated it in The Return of Master Monk Guan.

If Omi had met Dashi sometime before Raimundo betrayed him, he probably would be surprised to note how Dashi is so similar to Raimundo in how surprisingly laid-back and whimsical they both are and how they both pull these silly pranks on him but ultimately seem kind and help him out and how both of them are so different than what he expected but in a way that Omi himself is surprisingly okay with. Omi would have even found something really cool and comforting in that, and clumsily told Raimundo that he is more like the great masters than he thinks, and told Dashi that he reminds Omi of a very clever friend of his back at the temple.

Because before the betrayal, Omi really did look up to Raimundo as someone who was very clever and tricksy but also thought he was someone who would never want to hurt them no matter how things looked. Omi thought that anything that even looked like Raimundo being against them would only ever be a good-natured prank that Omi and Raimundo and everyone could all laugh at together.

But after that turned out to be an impression that wasn't entirely true, Omi is deeply traumatized by the ordeal. Omi's meeting with Dashi was ultimately positive, even if it went in an unexpected way. Omi's mind is not going to go to that comparison on its own.

As for Dojo, the parts of Dashi that he's privy with aren't the parts that Raimundo most parallels.

Dashi didn't come off as the type who wanted to be a leader or legend from his interactions with Dojo, and Dojo's the one person who never placed him on that pedestal and understood that he didn't want to be seen there.

He's familiar with a Dashi that's struggling under the weight of these immense powers and titles and lofty expectations from people who see him as a perfect, solitary living legend. All those things that were thrust upon Dashi, that Dashi wasn't to run away from, are things that Raimundo chases after and longs for. Raimundo really wants to be leader and protector and prove himself and longs for the titles and to be seen as the best-- or at the very least, "good enough."

Dashi's seen as better than he wants to be seen as, Raimundo's seen as worse than he wants to be seen as.

But post-finale while Raimundo is trying to come into his own as a leader, depending on how that storyline is handled, I could see Dojo noticing similarities between them in that scenario and even offering support accordingly.

[thekoalapastriesbakery]

So to take from the previous time travel au, reader (currently 7 years older then logan when he left williams) is the creator of the williams f1 team in 1978 and is appalled at how his team is treating logan (and also the fact that their car making is so bad) reader is Nowhere near an f1 track so he has to contact his older self (who left williams to focus on himself and left it in the hands of someone he thought capable, who switched its team principal to mr. Aeiou in 23) and it takes till 2025 because reader had nothing on him so he had to find a job get enough money to buy a phone and learn how to use technology and even then reader wouldn't be able to contact his older self because no one answers random insta messages from acounts you don't know reader takes a pic of himself and sends it with an address and something only he knows (that he likes men, which was taboo back then) saying that if his older self wants to talk he could come to him since he wouldn't have belived it otherwise if it weren't him it happened to, anyway they get in contact older self is disgusted with logans treatment and decides to come back for 2025 while making his younger self team principal, logan (after old!reader asks him if he would like to be a reserve driver) is now old!readers child and young!readers brother meanwhile everyone else on the grid has their jaws on the ground with how hot young!reader is, the rookies are crushing hard, everyone else is trying to see if they can get with young!reader but he won't date a driver, full stop, somehow young!reader meets 1 drew starkey at some gala old!reader was invited too but didn't want to go to since he was real busy with the fiasco that mr aeiou caused, the info that young!reader is dating someone is devastating to the drivers who thought they had a chance.

Anyway i should probs stop typing since i'm pretty sure you just wanted short promt like thingies instead of this long as heck paragraph.

-🍑

you're all good peaches!! (also i changed a couple little things, i hope that's okay)

when you find out how logan is being treated

you are not happy

it takes fucking forever for you to find a way to get in contact with the older version of yourself

and even longer still to explain how you ended up there

older!you definitely wasn't buying shit until you mention something that nobody else in the world had ever known

your crush on a fellow driver back in the 90s

and then, y'know, older!you is a bit more convinced

you explain what's happening with williams and logan

and older!you is pissed

it doesn't take much for older!you to convince the board members to listen to him. the now ex-team principal probably gets incredibly passive aggressive in the media

nobody gives a fuck

at some point it comes out that you're from a different timeline

but then older!you convinces the williams board to make you team principal

and it just goes up and up and up from there

before you know it, williams is consistently getting double points

logan has his spark back

he's still not always matching alex, but you make the point that alex has a lot more experience

and alex makes the point that he and logan both learn from each other

you and older!you completely overhaul the marketing strategy

williams is now one of the most popular teams

probably because your marketing strategy involves just letting alex and logan have fun in vaguely motorsports related settings

you're technically the youngest team principal in the history of formula one

because you're only in your late 20s

and yeah, a lot of the other drivers end up falling in love with you

like holy fuck you were hot in the 90s

if you mention a partner or a date (because you don't want to accidentally out your older self maybe?)

they are heartbroken

they are genuinely like puppies around you

if you do end up single? expect to be flirted with by so many drivers you can't believe it

[inkieflame]

Body horror part two: Amnesia colds

Trigger warning for mild body horror. Duh.

After the successful transfer of Jimmy into his plastic toy body, the Watchers turn their attention to organic vessels. Plastic and plush was fine, but it had one major downfall. Inorganic materials aren't affected by the tranquilizers, or any other drugs the Watchers use. They are beginning to have serious trouble getting Jimmy to his rentals again, since they can't trang him during transportation.

So organic vessels it is!

The Watchers start by trying to swap subjects bodies, instead of synthetically growing a new body (cuz that's hella expensive). They're unsure how this will psychologically affect the subjects, so they test on subjects that are less wanted for rental than Jimmy (Their toy stays nice and controlled <3)

The studies begin on Cleo, Pearl and Gem in the HC9 lab. This lab is also where Lizzie and Mumbo are being held for their recovery from their burn injuries.

They work with Cleo and Gem first, bringing them into the medical center and hooking them to machines. Testing their vitals, their internal systems, and running all the same tests they did on Jimmy. It doesn't take long before the magic is successful and Cleo and Gem swap. The test is temporary, and they're changed right back, but it's proof that a mind can move into an organic vessel.

Their hope is to use this magic on Lizzie or Mumbo, since their current bodies are pretty destroyed. Having done this twice now, the Watchers easily move Lizzie into Pearl's body.

Lizzie wakes up disoriented. She's surrounded by Watchers staring at her, taking notes and checking the medical devices she's connected to.

"Pearl?" One of the Watchers says.

Lizzie glaces around the room, trying to get her bearings. She's in a medical center, but not the one from the LL SMP lab, which is weird. She's not in rotation for any other labs right now. This medical center is bigger than the other one, and confusingly, Pearl isn't here.

When no one answers the Watchers, they clear their throat and try, "Lizzie? Are you awake?"

Lizzie blinks at them, "Y- yeah. Did I get moved?"

Half a dozen pens begin to write on their clipboards. One of the Watchers types something in a laptop. Lizzie takes a second bewildered look around the room, still confused about Pearl.

She brushes her hair out of her eyes, and that's the first thing she notices. Her hair isn't pink. That's not weird by itself, she hasn't been able to dye it as often since her capture. But this isn't her natural hair color either. She frowns, glancing down.

Her uniform is the same. White and white. Plastic collar. That's new. She looks just fine, but she feels... Big. Taller, maybe.

"What happened?" She asks, but she doesn't expect an answer. When have the Watchers ever given them answers?

A second Watcher, the one at the computer, comments, "Unusual neural patterns in Lizzie. Uh. Pearl. She might be dreaming? Probably a nightmare."

"That's new. Lizzie didn't dream." Another says, leaning over their shoulder to look at the laptop, "Neutral patterns from Mumbo... Okay. Give her another dose of prazosin and keep monitoring. We'll switch them back if it causes problems."

The Water nods in response. Someone else approaches Lizzie, "We're going to run some standard tests, okay? Can you stand up?"

Lizzie nods and pushes herself to her feet. Vertigo makes her gag. She's definitely taller than normal.

The Watcher walks her through some tests, and she feels foreign to herself the entire time. She's not used to seeing the tops of people's heads.

Eventually she catches a glimpse of her reflection in a black screen, and she flinches. That's not her face.

That's. That's not her face. That's not her.

The Watchers have to drug Lizzie to stop her from clawing Pearl's face off.

The two are hurriedly swapped back.

Sometime later, during the LimL SMP, the testing is continued. This time they study the long term effects of it. It's just one week, but Lizzie and Gem are disoriented the entire time.

Pearl and Cleo are kept in the other lab as a control sample. Pearl sleeps away in Lizzie's body, while Cleo paces until Gem's corset bruises her ribs.

Lizzie and Gem are instructed to act like Pearl and Cleo while they're in the new lab, and for the most part they do. They force a poor accent, and hang out with Bigb or Scar and Bdubs.

But Lizzie hasn't seen Joel in so long.

And Joel could recognize his love anywhere.

They hope the Watchers don't notice the evenings that "Pearl" and Joel are spending together. The lengthy conversations as they catch up with each other. The overwhelming love that they never stopped feeling.

(The Watchers can tell their meal has been soured. They have a punishment waiting for Lizzie once she's healed, but that's a story for another time.)

[the-pallid-king]

Ichigo doesn't answer his fucking phone, the goddamn coward. There's at least half a dozen missed calls and an equal number of unanswered texts before Shiro, very grumpy now, throws his phone across the room and storms from the room, into the bathroom to shower. Fucker. What kind of asshole-

Can this ring get wet? Surely it can, nevermind, that's dumb. What should he care anyway? The jerk that gave it to him has left him, again. This is exactly what he thought was going to happen, minus the ring. Pretend. Ichigo asked to pretend forgiveness and Shiro, like an idiot, gave him real forgiveness without hesitation. Fuck. He's so stupid.

He doesn't take the ring off, even though the sight of it makes it feel like his ribs are being cracked and pulled open one by one. He tells himself it's just heartburn and the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach is hangover. Too much partying last night. That's all.

This ring is not going to go unnoticed, he knows, so when he gets dressed, he pulls out a few more rarely worn rings so it doesn't stand out on its own so much. He should just take it off, stuff it in a box and forget about it, but he can't bring himself to. The last thing he does before leaving his room is find his phone at the base of the far wall. He's not surprised, but definitely hurt, to see no returned calls, not even a text.

His mind is a whirlwind of thoughts and memories of the night prior. And he definitely is a little hungover because there's a throbbing behind his eyes. His hangover cure hasn't changed after all these years, so when he pours coffee, it's only half coffee. He's got the mug halfway to his lips when he realizes his... His cop friend is sitting at the table, still in uniform after an overnight shift.

Fuck.

"Never gonna get used to a uniform in my house." He mutters before taking a sip.

The cop watches him and Shiro knows he knows something.

"I saw the video."

Double fuck.

Shiro shrugs. "So? I didn't mean for it to be recorded, but it's nothing new. We dont need to have this conversation."

"Is that who you were trying to talk to this morning?"

Shiro makes a face, half disgust and half ice cold threat, in his eyes and the slight curl of his lip against the rim of his cup. He sets it down. "That's a huge invasion of privacy. I don't look into your business, you don't look into mine. That's how this works. You don't like it, you can get out. And when have I ever called a one night stand the next morning?" Never, but that's never been what Ichigo is. "Go home. I'm goin' out."

He never lets his boyfriend stay when he's not home. Their professional interests are too different. They leave the penthouse together, but they get into separate cars.

All the way up until he's pulling out of the garage, he has no idea where he's going or what he's doing. He has work to do, but his thoughts are scattered and messy and all he can think about is that little metal band on his finger. He's halfway to Ichigo's apartment before he realizes it. He rethinks it for exactly two seconds, before deciding Ichigo deserves a piece of his mind. But when he gets there, no one answers the door. He's not sure what he expected. If Ichigo won't return his calls, why would he open the door? He hangs on the door a few more times, calling Ichigo a fucking coward through it at a volume he's pretty confident any neighbors will hear. Then he decides to let himself in. There's probably an alarm, but he doesn't care. Ichigo will shut it off or the cops will come. He can be gone before then.

It's only when he breaks in and the place is empty and quiet that he realizes something's not right. He calls around, all their mutual friends. Renji and Rukia, he even sends Grimmjow a text. But no one has seen Ichigo in a while. He knows Ichigo does some shady shit sometimes. What's his boss's name? U something. He starts calling in favors.

His brows furrow a tiny bit and he says quietly, "I've always needed you." It's not the work he needed done, it was the company, the banter, the connection, that he needed. Needs.

Between the late, or maybe early, hour, the party, the drugs and alcohol, the good sex and now the utter relaxation of being truly comfortable, it's hard not to start drifting off when Ichigo gets quiet. He wants to fight sleep. He wants to stay awake, enjoy every second of this. He wants to be sure Ichigo won't leave while he's asleep. At some point he registers the weight and warmth of a blanket, but he's not sure when that happened and he doesn't dwell on it.

He sleeps deeply enough that when Ichigo finds his hand, he doesn't move and just barely breathes out an unconscious sound. Some time later, he subconsciously registers a cold space at his side and rolls over, tugging the blanket more firmly around himself.

He sleeps late into the day.

He wakes up when his stomach protests, then his bladder, and he huffs out a tired yawn and rolls over. The bed is empty and for a second, he doesn't recall Ichigo's visit. But as he wakes up more, it all comes flooding back. The empty bed feels like a drop kick to the gut. He pulls in a painful breath, rubs at one eye, then curses. Fucking Ichigo. Fuck him, honestly. Asshole.

He sits up, stares at the bedroom door, feeling the emptiness of his room. After a long minute, he slowly starts collecting himself. Looking around, he finds his phone at the foot of the bed, but as he reaches for it, he freezes.

What the fuck...

With stark contrast against his skin, an unfamiliar ring sits on his finger. Now that he's noticed it, it feels like it weighs a million pounds. His breathing picks up, part panic, part nausea, part...pain.

Where the fuck is Ichigo?

He snags the phone, dials Ichigo's number and stares at his hand while the line rings. And rings. He hangs up, dials again. "Pick up the fucking phone-" he hisses under his breath. He's afraid to touch the ring.